Interior will honor the memory of former Reclamation Commissioner John W. Keys III at a key feature of Grand Coulee Dam in Washington state. At Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne’s direction, the department is renaming the 312-megawatt-power and water-pumping plant at the dam the "John W. Keys, III Pump-Generating Plant." Keys died on May 30, 2008, at age 66 in the crash of a small plane he was piloting in Canyonlands National Park.

"John Keys was a dedicated and honorable Interior Department employee who, in his 34 years of public service, left the West and the Nation an enduring legacy, Kempthorne said.  "This is one small way that we can honor the legacy and important life-long work of Commissioner John Keys."

Keys capped his federal career in Boise, Idaho, serving as regional director of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Pacific Northwest Region from June 1980 to June 1998. Following a brief retirement, he returned to federal service at the request of former Interior Secretary Gale Norton.  President George W. Bush appointed, and the U.S. Senate confirmed, Keys as commissioner in 2001. He served in that position until his departure from Reclamation in 2006.

"John Keys took great pride in his leadership role in Reclamation," Acting Commissioner Bill McDonald said. "John was the most enthusiastic voice for the vital mission of our agency - producing water and power for the West. The renaming of this plant in his honor is a perfect tribute to that dual mission that he was so proud to support."

Customers and stakeholders of the Columbia Basin Project and staff from the U.S. House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over Reclamation have expressed support for this proposal to rename a major facility in the Pacific Northwest as a tribute to Keys, McDonald said.

The pump-generating plant at Grand Coulee Dam, which Reclamation completed in the early 1980s, contains 12 pumps that lift water up the hillside. It serves as the source of water for the Columbia Basin Project, irrigating 670,000 acres in central Washington. Six of the pumps are reversible and are capable of generating a total of 312 megawatts of electricity. Grand Coulee Dam itself was completed in 1942 and provides water for irrigation, recreation, fish and wildlife, hydroelectric power production, and flood control.

For more information on Grand Coulee Dam:  http://www.usbr.gov/pn/grandcoulee/

Previous article on Commissioner Keys: http://peoplelandandwater.gov/bor/bor_06-03-08_former-reclamation-commissioner.cfm